Managing Reward has become more challenging over the last few years in the fast-paced and ever-evolving HR landscape. The reality is, since the pandemic HR and Reward professionals are being bombarded with a phenomenal number of external pressures as well as age-old internal agendas of yesteryear. Having worked with prestigious law firms such as Bird & Bird, TLT, CMS and Dentons, the team at Innecto has first-hand experience of some of the most challenging pain points HR and Reward professionals are facing in this very competitive marketplace and can proffer some clear strategies that will help tackle the challenges head-on.
Rebuilding Recognition Culture in the Hybrid Work Environment
Many firms have been struggling to answer the question of how do we re-build a recognition culture post covid when face-to-face visibility is reduced through hybrid and remote working. Is what we had before still relevant for now? The answer for many is no – lack of visibility in the office is having a real impact on recognition culture and a new approach may be required. Taking stock of what you are trying to achieve through your existing recognition arrangements is vital (if indeed you have anything formal in place at all). It requires attention – what do you have, what works and doesn’t work? Take time to ask employees what they value and how they want to be recognised.
Simplifying Bonus Schemes and Aligning Them with Firm Values
Entrepreneur Jim Rohn famously said: “You don’t get paid by the hour, you get paid for the value you bring for that hour.” In the legal industry, the billable hour has long been the cornerstone of measuring performance and determining compensation. However, this traditional billing model is increasingly facing scrutiny, so it is time to ask some tough questions on this subject, incorporating broader metrics beyond billable hours to measure value-add effectively.
By solely valuing time spent rather than the value delivered, the billable hour metric becomes the goal. But in this day and age, should it be the sole point of motivation and is it really driving desired behaviours? What about wellbeing? What about the impact on DEI? What about customer value or innovation? There are many factors that can be incorporated and many firms are moving towards a balanced scorecard of metrics to create a more rounded approach to associate variable pay.
With clients such as CMS, Taylor Wessing and Bird & Bird, when reviewing bonus plans we considered a series of proposals from outlining quick wins that would not be too disruptive, further scheme framing options that would mitigate some of the existing challenges, through to the complete revolution and fundamental scheme redesign that would require a change in variable pay philosophy. Changing your current approach doesn’t have to be a big bang – even incremental changes can make a big difference.
“We had a brilliant experience working with Innecto. They delivered our brief, with incredibly tight deadlines. They had just the right balance of sharing their expertise and market insights, as well as listening to our views and objectives. The focus groups and feedback sessions with employees and senior stakeholders were skillfully managed to enable the facilitators to obtain good feedback and innovative ideas. Overall, a very successful and enjoyable collaboration.”
Andrea Pankhurst, Head of Human Resources, Bird & Bird LLP
Balancing Transparency and Discretion in Pay Decisions
One of the key challenges we have seen working with many clients, is around how to manage the need for discretion in pay when employees are demanding more transparency around reward decision-making. And building on this, how open should they be around pay and how do they manage the conflicting demands of partners and younger cohorts who have very different views on the subject of transparency? There is no one right answer here – but the reality check is that younger generations are becoming more demanding about wanting increased levels of transparency. It doesn’t mean you have to share everyone’s pay, but they do want to understand the art of the possible. Recognising at entry, pay is so transparent in the market, but it quickly becomes opaque as you gain experience and move up the career ladder. However, with more social sharing happening on websites such as Glassdoor or Roll on Friday, whether you like it or not, it might be time to take control of the narrative. This might mean in the first instance sharing averages in bonus payments or educating on market data and how it’s used to determine pay. Whatever the journey is, if you dally too long your hand may get forced.
It’s important to integrate EDI principles into your reward framework to demonstrate fairness and equity. By conducting diversity gap analysis beyond legislative requirements to foster inclusivity, at the very least you’ll be keeping up with or ideally standing above your competition.
Addressing Regional Pay Discrepancies in a Distributed Workforce
One of the hottest topics is what to do with regional pay. Many firms are questioning if their historical pay frameworks are still fit for purpose when they now have a distributed workforce that may not be tied to a local office. We have seen moves by some firms to reduce regional differentials, particularly at more senior levels where mobility has always been greater, and we may continue to see less regional differentiation than was historically in place. Whatever you do however, it needs to be done with a fairness lens – can you defend / explain if there are differences and are you treating everyone the same? Some of the biggest issues have been with previously ‘ad hoc’ arrangements that now require tidying up to make sure all remote workers are treated fairly.
Building the business case to invest in Business Services
Often seen as the poor relations, we are working with firms to put in place job architecture frameworks to support Business Services staff with pay and career progression. The cost of recruitment and retention for this population is often underestimated but as the backbone for firms, it is important, particularly for expanding organisations, to enable frameworks that support progression across the firm / globally and support talent mobility in a cost-effective way. We have worked with firms to establish career pathways and associated pay ranges, extending the lifetime value of staff in these roles. Helping employees to understand where they fit, and what opportunities they have to progress goes back to our theme of transparency. If we want to retain employees for longer, we have to help them understand the career pathway available to them. It also helps to ensure fairness and equity in pay decision-making, reducing the risk of equal pay claims.
Enhancing Pay Review Processes
Annual pay review is always a challenge for law firms due to the complexity of differing pay frameworks for fee and non-fee earners. Add bonus into the mix and you can end up with a monster spreadsheet that is at risk of errors, as it is continually carved up and stitched back together for review. You can however streamline pay review procedures to make them more efficient and less burdensome by leveraging digital tools and technology to automate and simplify the pay review process. At Innecto, we developed ‘Advance’, a user-friendly, fully customisable modeller that removes the need for time-hungry spreadsheets, with a system that lifts you out of the detail and handles the calculations.
Creating Unique Employee Propositions and Retaining Key Talent
Post-pandemic, the employer proposition has changed, yet reward strategies have not necessarily been updated. In this crowded market, what is it that sets you apart from other firms – how are your working practices different and what is your USP? What is it that employees really want and are you getting good value from your reward spend? Taking time to assess this is vital, especially when the recruitment market is hot. Simply following the crowd in upping salaries will only enable you to keep up – how do you want to stand apart?
"I have really valued working with Innecto on a review of our reward strategy. They have been able to bring market insight, best practice and practical solutions in a timely and effective manner. Justine was able to navigate a board discussion with ease and built rapport quickly through her deep understanding of reward practices. I would absolutely work with Innecto again."
Scott Sullivan, Head of Talent Advisory
How can Innecto Reward Consulting help?
Innecto understands the nuances of the legal sector and offers tailored solutions to your reward management challenges. Our approach is different – we are independent, flexible, innovative, and agile. We foster long-term relationships with our clients and have the expertise to drive change at the senior level. Moreover, our proprietary digital tools are
designed to meet the specific needs of our clients, making the reward management process seamless and efficient.
As the legal industry continues to evolve, staying ahead of the curve is imperative. Embrace change, challenge the status quo, and partner with Innecto to revolutionse your reward management strategies.
We take a company through the initial discovery phase, the design process, and the implementation process to ensure that a bonus or incentive scheme is relevant, motivating and affordable. Get in touch with Justine Woolf today to discuss how we can help.
Join us in our upcoming event at REBA Future Forum, where we will delve deeper into these topics. Together, let's shape the future of reward management in the legal sector.
“Whilst we have internal reward expertise at TLT, we identified a need for an external viewpoint and insight into reward practice, both within and outside the Legal sector. Working with Innecto has bolstered our ability to deliver proposed reward changes, and provided additional credibility and insights to our partners and senior leaders. As a flexible additional resource, Innecto helped us move at pace, and the team was highly responsive and agile in their approach, supporting us effectively to deliver our proposals. We have built a trusted relationship based on honest, open communication and I would recommend Innecto to anyone considering consultancy support.”
Carol White, Head of Reward, TLT LLP
